Running for a Cause

Whew, I'm exhausted.

Today was my first BIG race of the season...the 1st Annual Martin City .1K, which benefited the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

And yes...you read that right...it was a .1K - or a staggering 323 feet of major obstacles, such as uneven asphalt, traffic cones, parking stripes, restroom lines and beer lines.

It was grueling.

All 323 feet.

No, really. Grueling...before it even started...as it called for - gasp - costumes!!!

Hubby and I put a lot of time and effort in our costumes (snort) and this is what we came up with:

I'm an "Olympic Torch Bearer" and Hubby is "A Running Parrothead".

Hey. It worked. It was cheap, easy and comfortable.

So, we get to the event, and I decided to "scout" the course a head of time to check for hazards, roadblocks and obstructions...

The first few feet of the course was uphill, so yes..."slow" would be only natural here - but I'm glad they forewarned us.

I then came across the following:

"Stop Sag"??? What does that mean? I'm all for stopping sag, especially if it's MY body parts we're talking about - but I guess I'm a little confused on this one. Were we to stop for sags crossing the road? Or stop for a sag? Oh well. Moving on.

Midway through the run, there was a donut stop - for refueling in this marathon:

About 3/4 of the way through, the organizers knew our energy would be waning and our spirits sagging (SAGGING! There's that word again!!)...and in preparation, they gave us a boost of encouragement:

After I checked out the course, I thought I would check out my competition. Medals were to be awarded, and I wanted a leg up on what I was dealing with. Speaking of legs, check out this team:

That was the Stiletto Heels Division 1st Place Relay Team...which actually came in dead-last for the race, no thanks to the guy in heels.

We then had this ringer - a true "walker" in every sense of the word:

I figured I could take her.

Soon, it was time to start....we began with a soulful rendering of the national anthem:

And then - the participants lined up, and we're OFF!

Um, yeah...my friend Jackie and her little friend were BLAZING out of the gate, but because they didn't pace themselves, I think they quickly burnt themselves out...pacing, folks. It's all about pacing.

Now...Hubby and I paced ourselves very nicely around the course...Hubby paced himself right over to the donut table and indulged. I was too busy fighting the wind and trying to keep my torch lit to distract myself with empty carbs.

We finished a nice, respectable...um....we finished. Let's just leave it at that.

And in case you don't think this race was serious, we even had timing chips. Yup - a whole tray of chips:

And after the race, knowing we had to refuel and rehydrate, we finished up with this:

Life is good, my friends. Life is good.